It is known to provide a multiple feed circular knitting machine which permits selection of the needles in one of three positions, knit, tuck and welt positions, at each of the feeds. Additionally, the selector device operates to move dial needles outwardly when knitting stitch loops on selected groups of cylinder needles to prevent movement of the stitch loops upwardly on the cylinder needles when forming blister knit types of stitch construction. In this conventional type of circular knitting machine, it is possible to provide, for example, 48 feeds in a machine having a 30 inch diameter needle cylinder. This known type of selector device is illustrated in FIG. 6 with the dial needles 4' including a master butt 4a' and having selector butts, as indicated at 4b', positioned at four different levels below the master butt 4a'. A first row of tuck selector cams is supported on rotatable tuck selector cam cylinders 9' while a second row of knit selector cams is supported in laterally spaced relationship on knit selector cam cylinders 11'.
In order to increase productivity of this type of machine, it is desirable to increase the number of feeds surrounding the needle cylinder and, therefore, the distance between individual feeds of the machine must be shortened. The arrangement of the adjacent rows of tuck and knit selector cams, illustrated in the prior art of FIG. 6, makes it practically impossible to narrow the distance L between the centers of the needle controlling cam cylinders 9', 11' so that it is not possible to substantially reduce the distance between the individual feeds of the knitting machine.